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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fine · pitch · cold · wave · bound · rock · current · cell

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. bound — obliged
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. fine — all right
  7. pitch — completely
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — a stone
  10. bound — certain
  11. current — happening now
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. current — of water
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. bound — tied together
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. current — electric

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com